Phantom Fatale
by Eternal Love Song
Summary: During a heist, two thieves meet and argue over the same target. They couldn't have known that this would be the start of a new friendship, nor that they would become each other's perfect partner. [AU, Quirkless Izuku, No Heroes] [Tooru x Izuku]
1. Chapter 1

The sound of the door opening caused a brief moment of panic to fill his body and he ducked down behind the pedestal he was standing beside. It... was not the best hiding place, he had to admit. It was also unexpected. Izuku had studied the rotation of the guards and this room should be clear for twenty more minutes. So if it wasn't a guard...

He peeked over the pedestal, looking to the door and straining to hear other sounds. A soft clicking was moving slowly closer and he spent a long moment searching to pinpoint it. Letting his eyes trail the ground, he found the black heels as they walked the floor. He couldn't see anyone, but they were obviously there.

Dark dainty gloves dragged themselves along the wall, tilting all the paintings that hung on the wall. That behavior confirmed it for him. This wasn't a guard, this was a rival.

"T-that's rude, you know!" He called out, standing up from his hiding spot. The clicking of heel stopped and the gloves paused mid-air. "Someone went to a lot of trouble to get those just right."

"Oh my!" The gloves rose. They were long enough to indicate a bend in the arm and he imagined hands pressed to cheeks. "This is so embarrassing! I thought I was alone." Her voice was chipper and expressive, a clear contrast to her physical transparency.

"Funny," He told her. "I had a similar thought when that door opened."

She giggled. "Forgive me for startling you."

He gave her a smile. It was forced, but he hoped that it wouldn't come off that way. "Forgive me for embarrassing you. I don't usually have company at places like this."

The gloves moved again and from their position he assumed that she was putting her hands on her hips. "You could give me a name before asking me out on a date."

Izuku flushed red. "A d-date? That's not-" His stuttering was interrupted by her laughter.

"I'm joking. I'm joking." The high heels began to move closer. "I've got a date with that diamond there."

"I'm sorry to hear that," He replied. "I would have really...enjoyed a date."

She paused gloves lifted to where he assumed her face to be and one shoe rose off the ground. He could nearly imagine her surprised pose as she asked, "With me?"

Izuku grinned. "No, with the diamond." He quickly snatched the diamond off its pedestal. Stuffing his prize into a bag, ran toward the window as the alarm blared.

"Wait, that's mine!" The sound of clicking heels increased and he assumed that she was chasing him. "Stop!"

Something hit him in the back of the back of the head and it was reflexive to look back and see what it had a moment to realize that the object that had hit him was her shoe before a dark glove was smashed into his face.

"Fuck!" Izuku exclaimed, bringing one hand up to his face where she'd punched him. He felt a tug on the bag he'd stuffed the diamond into, but his grip didn't lessen. He dropped to the ground and swept his leg out in front of him. He couldn't see her, but he could feel himself make contact.

There was a soft thud as she hit the ground. "No fair!" She groaned.

"You can't talk about fair when you sucker punched me!" He said as he hurried to his exit.

"I'm not done yet!" She yelled.

He ran to the open window, placing his hands on the ledge just as he felt a weight jump onto his back. The sudden weight threatened to tip him forward and he flailed his arms, trying to regain his balance.

"Did you just jump on my back?" He questioned incredulously.

"Yes!" She yelled in return, her loud exclamation right beside his ear. He felt her legs wrap tightly around his waist before she hit him on both sides of his head with the flat of her palm, hoping to disorient him.

Izuku took a few steps away from the window and slammed his back, and therefore her on his back, into the wall. "You are very determined," he told her. "But so am I."

She gasped in pain and he felt her hands dig into his shoulders as she tried to hold on. He prepared to slam her back once more.

"Who's there?" A voice called out, a voice that Izuku could only assume to be the security guard that was supposed to be watching this place. A flashlight began to sweep across the room as the guard searched for the intruder.

They both swore at the same time.

"You made me waste too much time!" He hissed.

"Shut up! I know how to get us out of this," She whispered. "Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Trust me."

"I don't!"

"Do it!" She told him sternly before pressing her dark gloves over his eyes. He tightened his hold on the sack containing the diamond and closed his eyes.

"Fine. Make it quick," He told her.

"Okay," She said softly. Then she yelled, "Hey guard!"

Izuku could have strangled the woman in that moment.

"Who's there?" The guard asked, followed by swearing and a small thump.

"Alright," She said, uncovering his eyes. "Whatever your exit strategy was, the time for that is now."

With a brief look around Izuku could see that the security guard had dropped his flashlight and was covering his eyes. He didn't waste any more time. "Hold on," He told her. He felt her tighten her grip and then he vaulted out the window. She muffled a squeal of surprise by pressing her face into his shoulder. He could feel the warmth of her body pressed to his own, feel her breast as he pushed against his back. His face heated up at his wandering thoughts.

He brought back to reality when he dropped down onto the fire escape. He wasted no time climbing down and making the short leap to the ground. She was so light, her weight so comforting, that he was able to put her out of his mind entirely. He followed his pre planned escape route, going through alleys and ducking through buildings in case he was followed, but no one appeared to be on his tail. He ended his route on the top of an abandoned building that offered a good view of the surrounding layout. He put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Wow, you really got out of there."

After so long, it made him jump to hear her voice. He'd nearly forgotten that he wasn't alone.

"I suppose since you did all that work, you can keep the spoils," She told him. "But I won't let you off so easily next time."

He grinned at her. "So what did you do to that guard back there?"

"That was my special move!" She exclaimed. "I'm not going to give away the secret, though."

He chuckled. "Of course not."

She walked around him, something that he could only tell because she still had gloves on. "You never did give me a name."

"You never gave me one either," He replied.

"Oh gosh, you're right! Where are my manners?" She waved her arms around and he couldn't help but think it was cute even without the any other body language. "Call me Femme Fatale!"

"Femme Fatale, huh. You seem too cute for a name like that," He spoke without thinking.

A gloved finger poked at his chest. "Don't underestimate me, buddy!"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"And now you're teasing me with the diamond."

He hastily lowered the hand holding the sack. "Th-that's not what I meant!"

She giggled at him. "Just teasing."

Izuku sighed deeply. "You tease a lot."

"I like to have fun on the job," She told him. "So, that name?"

He thought about it for a minute. "Phantom."

"Alright," She said, pulling off one glove. "I'll see you around, Phantom." She tugged off the other glove and then he had no way of knowing where she was.

"Yeah, see you around," he said to the empty air.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm home," Tooru said quietly as she opened the door of her apartment. She left her shoes at the door and fell face first onto the couch. She let out a tired groan and rubbed her face into her sleeve. She raised her head at the sound of laughter.

"Long night, Tooru?"

Tooru moved into an upright position as she looked at her roommate. "Ochako! I didn't know you were still awake."

"I can tell," Ochako said with more giggling. "It looked like you were trying to bury yourself in the couch."

"I'm just so tired," she groaned, drawing out the syllables. She slouched back on the couch.

"You're later than usual," Ochako said. She moved into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of water, holding it out for her. "Work run long?"

Tooru screwed off the top and drained half the bottle, drinking like a dying man. She took a loud breath when she was done. "Thanks, I was really thirsty."

"You should start taking some with you," Ochako told her.

"You're right, you're right," Tooru replied. Ochako told her this all the time and Tooru always forgot. Not that it would be all that practical anyway. It was difficult enough to find inconspicuous places to stash her clothing, trying to add a water bottle to the equation would just make everything worse.

"So...work?" Ochako questioned. "Or did you go out somewhere?"

"Both," Tooru answered. "There was this new guy at work, it was so frustrating!" She made exaggerated gestures with her arms, feeling a small amount of satisfaction when her antics made her roommate laugh. "He totally showed me up and my boss scolded me. Then he made me go out for drinks with him to make up for it!"

"The new guy?"

"My boss." Tooru corrected. "But! But! This new guy was such a tease! Can you believe he flirted with me, just to distract me from getting my work done?"

"Really?"

"Of course, really!"

"You're not exaggerating at all?" Ochako asked her.

Tooru pouted, though she knew Ochako wouldn't see it. "When have you ever known me to exaggerate?" she asked.

Ochako didn't answer that, though she looked like she wanted to laugh. Her smile was bright as she said, "Well, that guy sounds pretty bad."

"Thank you!" Tooru cried, springing up from her slouched position only to lett herself fall back on the couch in relief. "I could sleep for a week."

"Well, maybe don't sleep that long," Ochako told her. "But do get some rest. You'll have the apartment all to yourself."

Tooru sat up and reached out to Ochako, grabbing hold of her wrist. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I picked up a late shift at work," she answered, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

"At this hour? Ochako!" Tooru put her hands on her hips and a stern, scolding tone into her voice. It was after midnight, way too late for her friend to be heading out for more work. She worked too much as it was.

"I know, I know," Ochako said. "But we do really need the money."

Tooru couldn't deny that. Money was pretty tight between them, especially with her roommate trying to send as much of her money as she could back to her parents. They lived in a pretty nice place and nice places, even if they weren't fancy places, did not come cheep. Still, she was afraid her friend was going to work herself into an early grave.

"You work too hard," Tooru told her. "You can't keep this up."

"I just need to get another shift for rent this month. I can't keep having you cover for me."

It was moments like these that Tooru wished her face could be seen. It was hard to display the same amount of worry that was in her face with her actions. They just didn't translate the way she wanted and never had. Nevertheless, Tooru tried. She rose from the couch and wrapped her arms around her friend in a tight hug.

"Please take better care of yourself," she said softly.

"I will," Ochako replied, returning the hug. "Don't worry, I'm alright."

"You need to stop working so many hours for your parents," she added. "Or at least have them pay you."

"You know I can't do that," Ochako replied.

"I'll work harder, too," Tooru promised.

Her roommate laughed. "You're so reliable, Tooru. Thank you for working so hard."

Tooru hugged her tighter, not sure how else to convey her worry nor her sincerity.

* * *

The crime scene was hardly touched. There was a wall of tilted paintings and an empty pedestal where the stolen object had once resided. A few security guards were huddled to one side of the room, speaking to the police.

Her partner, Bakugo, walked ahead of her. His face was set into a perpetual scowl and his hands were shoved deep into his pockets. His shoulders were hunched and his hair was as wild and spiky as his explosive personality. He looked at the tilted paintings for a moment before turning to face her. "No wonder the thief didn't take anything else. Those paintings are ugly as sin."

"Bakugo!" she said in a scolding tone.

"What?"

"Would it kill you to say something nice for once?" she asked him in exasperation.

"Yes," he told her seriously.

Momo realized that trying to get her partner to behave was a losing battle, but she couldn't help but try.

"At least try not to blow anything up," she urged.

He scoffed as he turned away from her, but she took his lack of swearing and bluster to be consent.

"Which of you pathetic extras was on guard last night?" he yelled out.

One of the guards shuffled forward, giving them confused looks. She stepped forward before her partner could speak. "Hello. I'm Detective Yaoyorozu, and this is my partner, Detective Bakugo." Bakugo huffed as she showed the guard her badge. He was always so impatient. "What can you tell us about last night?"

"I wasn't able to tell who was here nor how many," the guard explained. "When I made my way here to investigate the alarm, they blinded me with a flash of light. I do recall hearing a female voice, though."

"Did they tilt all the paintings, too?" she asked.

"Yes, but there were no fingerprints on the wall or frames. The only thing missing is the diamond."

"What about the cameras?" Bakugo asked, pointing to the camera in the room.

"They were disabled earlier in the night," the guard answered. "I'm assuming the thief is to blame."

"Was there anything else left at the scene?" she questioned.

"We found a shoe. The police already collected it."

"A shoe?" Bakugo repeated. "The fuck is this, Cinderella?"

"What would cause someone to lose their shoe during a robbery?" she wondered.

"Stupidity," Bakugo offered.

"Not helpful, Bakugo."

"Whatever. I'm gonna go talk to the cops," he said. She watched him as he stalked off. She trusted him to get any useful information, even if she wished he'd be more polite and professional in his pursuit. She let her eyes travel around the room and lost herself in thought as she contemplated the crime scene.

* * *

Momo relaxed as she slid into a booth across from her partner. He'd been smoking at the booth while she'd been outside making a call, but he ground the cigarette into the ashtray as soon as she sat down. She sent him a grateful little smile and he scoffed and looked away.

"So," she began, cupping her hands on the table in front of her. "What do you think of this case?"

"I think it's going to be a dead end just like the others," he told her.

Dismay filled her at those words and her head drooped slightly. "I was afraid you'd say that."

Bakugo shrugged, looking off outside the booth, probably scanning for the waiter. "Not much else I could have said," he told her. "We have no real witnesses, no camera footage, hardly any clues."

"We do know more than we did before," she argued. "The thief has to be a woman."

"Yeah, this thief," Bakugo stressed. "There's nothing to connect this to the other robberies."

"You're right. We'll just have to wait and see if we get another apology card."

"Fucking stupid," Bakugo grumbled. "Who the hell apologizes for stealing?"

"Very polite thieves," Momo answered. "Our very polite thief."

"Fucking useless thief," Bakugo grumbled.

"He can't be that useless," she told him. "He's good enough that we haven't caught him yet."

"If these cases are related and our thief is a woman, does that help us at all?" he asked. "Is there any clue we overlooked? Any other dropped shoes?"

"I don't think so," she said, shaking her head. "I'll look over the case files again, of course, but there are so few details that I'm sure I remember it all."

Bakugo sighed. "That's what I thought."

"We can still dig around," she told him optimistically. "Maybe we can find somehting about the shoe or how the camera was taken out."

Bakugo growled. "Unlikely," he told her. He abruptly brought his fist down on the table and yelled out, "Can we get some service over here?"

Momo slumped down slightly in her seat. She was used to her partner's hot temper, but that didn't mean she was supportive of it. She placed her hand on his, speaking softly. "Bakugo, please."

"What? The service is slow as shit here," he responded.

"Don't make a scene."

"Tch. Too late for that," he told her.

She slumped further in her seat and resigned herself.

* * *

"Hatsume?" Izuku called out as he cautiously opened the door to his friend's workshop. He had been given a key and blanket permission to enter whenever he wanted, but he still hesitated a few steps from the threshold. He closed the door behind him, but didn't go further as he looked around. "Are you here?"

Hatsume's workshop was two rooms, the main room that he currently stood in and a smaller room in the back. The main room had piles of discarded inventions and worktables with scattered metals and materials. It was a very cramped and cluttered room, despite being large enough not to be. Izuku always itched to tidy up whenever he was here. He peered around a few of the worktables. He'd found her in a sorts of positions and places in her workshop before, including being on the floor.

"Midoriya!" he jumped as Hatsume's voice called out loudly behind him. Her voice was full of laughter as she added, "Did I surprise you?"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he responded.

Hatsume was dangling from the ceiling by a cord, goggles over her eyes and thick gloves on her hands. She fiddled with a belt around her waist until it clicked open, allowing her to drop to the ground. "So what brings you by today?" she asked.

His eyes instinctively darted around the room before he answered. "I, uh, got the diamond."

Hatsume took her googles off as she crowded Izuku's personal space. "You got it?"

"Y-yeah."

"Let me see it!" she demanded.

He shrunk away from her enthusiasm as he held out his bag, the diamond safely tucked within. She practically snatched the bag from his hands, spinning around as she reached inside and retrieved the diamond. He'd seen it before, but the utter joy on her face as she looked at the diamond still surprised him. The diamond was large enough that she couldn't close her fist around it and the light that passed through it reflected small rainbows on her palm.

"It's such a beauty," she said to herself.

"Yeah. Listen, last night..."

"Are you leaving it here with me?" she asked. "Can I study it for a few days or do you need me to sell it right away?"

"Oh? Uh... I guess you can keep it for a few days, but don't forget that you need to put it on the market before..."

"Yeah, yeah," she interrupted him. "I know, I won't."

Izuku sighed. "Let me know if you have anymore jobs for me or anything."

"I will. Where are you off to?" She took her eyes off the diamond briefly to look at him.

"I have to write an apology letter," he told her.

"Again?" Hatsume rolled her eyes. "You're going to get caught this way."

Izuku bit his lip and looked away. "Y-you're right..."

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" she smiled at him. "You're polite to a fault, Midoriya."

"I-I'm working on it," he said.

"See you later," she said, turning her gaze back to the diamond.

"See you later." With only a slight hesitation, Izuku turned and left her workshop.


	3. Chapter 3

The cameras had already been disabled in the room and he had stepped neatly over the security laser that was at the room's threshold. He had already located the particular piece that he needed to steal. It was a silver tiara that was generously decorated with blue diamonds and the matching earrings right beside it. He had already safely tucked them away in his bag and replaced them with his apology card. He had no interesting in taking anything else, so all that was left was to turn the cameras back on and leave the store while no one was the wiser of his presence.

It was for this reason that he was so startled by the sudden blaring of the alarm.

"Are you kidding me?" Izuku muttered to himself. He had no idea what could have triggered the alarm. He'd done everything right and he wasn't doing anything that should have resulted in a delayed trigger. Having his plans go awry again so close to his last debacle was disheartening at best. He hadn't made this many mistakes since he was a rookie.

He already had what he needed so he ran for the door. The alarm had already been tripped, turning the cameras back on to hide his presence would be pointless. He did, however, need to retrieve the device Hatsume had given him to disable the cameras. He was sure that she would stop lending them to him if he kept loosing them, even if he did net her a few rare materials to work with.

He hit something unseen in the doorway. "Ow! What the heck?"

A small metal rod clattered to the ground and a bag of jewelry scattered across the floor. He was confused until he saw dark gloves hastily trying to pull in the bags contents.

"Wha? You again?" He asked in surprise.

"I could say the same thing!" The invisible girl, she'd called herself Femme Fatale last time right, said to him."Did you show up just to steal my loot?"

"I was here before you!" He replied, voice raised in anxiousness. "And why do you always set off the alarm? What kind of thief are you?"

"The invisible kind!" She replied hotly.

"I don't have time for this," Izuku reminded himself with a groan. He moved to the side of the door, climbing onto a step latter that he'd slid into place earlier so that he retrieve his friend's device from the security camera there. "We don't have much time," He told her. "The cop's respond really fast in this area."

"What are you doing?" She'd finished collected her spoils into her bag, but he couldn't tell what she was doing with so few visual clues to work with.

"Doesn't matter," He told her as he got down from the step latter. He'd wasted too much time. Without thinking he grabbed her hand and pulled him after him and he headed to the exit. "Are you new at this?" He found himself asking. "You're really sloppy."

He hadn't meant it as an insult, but he realized that it may have come off wrong when she answered in an offended tone. "No, I'm not new! I told you, I'm invisible. I can be in the same room as someone and steal if I want."

"You'll still get caught if you're sloppy," He told her as they burst out of the stores back entrance and moved toward the back alley for concealment.

"I haven't yet," She replied.

He could hear the sound of sirens in the distance and he picked up his pace accordingly. He wanted as much distance between them and the store as he could get before the police arrived.

"Hey! I'm in heels!" She objected.

"Then ditch them. You did last time," He told her without thinking.

"I can't keep leaving my shoes at the scene of the crime," She told him.

A smile spread across his lips immediately at that response and a retort of his own was out of his lips before he'd even thought of it. "I guess you're not as bad a thief as I thought." He made a quick turn through a small opening between two building and he felt her stumble at the sudden change. There was barely enough room for them to make it through and he made the decision to gradually slow down. He didn't want to cause her more strain than necessary now that they had a bit of distance between themselves and the jewlery store. She was pretty good at keeping up with him even in the heels, but it still wasn't a practical choice. "It begs the question," He said out loud. "Why wear heels at all?"

"I'm a femme fatale. The heels help my image," She answered.

"You're invisible. No one sees you," He said.

They emerged back out onto the main street. It was late, but not so late that the streets were entirely empty. That was good. They wouldn't be so conspicuous if there were other people around. He had no reason to suspect that they'd been followed, but he still wanted to move further away from the crime scene.

"You did." Her answer was quiet. Not a whisper, but it lacked the energy of her previous statements. The change caused him to look at back at her. He couldn't see her, of course, but it was that moment that he realized he was still holding her hand. He blushed as he quickly let go. He realized now that they were more conspicuous than he thought. It wasn't very covert to go around with a floating pair of gloves and a floating bag.

"U-um... Y-you can put that in my backpack. If you want." He told her. The rest of his statement came out as a mumble and even he wasn't sure what he said.

She interrupted him with a giggle. "Sure, Phantom. It's very gentlemanly of you to carry my bad."

He blushed brighter as he took her bag and placed it inside his own. "Umm..."

"Follow me," She said. "We're not going far."

They walked a few blocks away to another back alley. He watched her as she climbed up a fire escape and picked up a backpack of her own. She pulled out a shirt and pants and was halfway through dressing before Izuku realized what she was doing. He turned away quickly, his face red.

"Y-you could have warned me!" He said. "That you were changing."

"You can't see anything anyway," She said.

"St-still..."

"And I was already naked."

"What?" Izuku thought that he might choke on his own surprise and embarrassment.

She jumped down wearing sneakers, casual clothing, and a hat. She had a backpack slung over one shoulder and a water bottle in her hand. It was odd to have such a clear sight of her. The clothes she was wearing weren't form fitting or anything, but he could tell where her arms and legs were, the hat helped him tell what direction she was facing, and he was surprised at what a difference it made. He'd never felt that she lacked presence, but seeing the space that she filled made her seem more real than she had before this moment. She took a few long gulps of her water before coming up for air. "So refreshing. I'm never gonna forget to bring water again."

Izuku reached into his back pack for her bag and held it out to her. "Here."

"Thanks, Phantom." She said as she stashed her loot in her own bag. "Why'd you bring me with it?" She questioned.

"Huh?"

"When you left that jewelry store. You could have left me behind, but you didn't."

Izuku shrugged. "I didn't really think about it," He told her. "Leaving you behind wasn't even an option. I didn't want you to get caught."

She chuckled, moving toward him and leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you."

Izuku stiffened in surprise, face heating up and blushing madly. "Y-you're welcome!"

She giggled. "Maybe I'll see you around again."

"M-maybe you will." He watched her as she walked out of the alley, but respectfully chose not to follow her. It was odd running into the same thief twice and he wondered if it was really something that could happen again.

* * *

Tooru took a deep breath as soon as she stood outside of the office building where he 'boss' worked, trying to steel herself for the coming trial. She wanted to conclude her business quickly, get her money, and go, but she knew things were never that easy. Money rarely changed hands around here without either a hassle or a lot of waiting. She sighed to herself. "Might as well get this over with."

She opened the door and walked straight toward the elevator, ignoring the purple haired receptionist as he filed his nails. "State your business," He said in a bored voice. When she didn't acknowledge him, he sighed. "Ibara."

Her feet were abruptly yanked out from under her and she hit the ground face first. "Son of a bitch!" She exclaimed loudly as her hand went to her face. Luckily nothing was bleeding or broken, but it still hurt like hell.

"Please state your business," He repeated calmly.

She stubbornly kept her mouth shut, regretting greatly that he couldn't see the death glare she was aiming at him. She was not in the mood to deal Shinso and she refused to answer him so easily so he could his quirk and probe in her business. After a lingering silence he glanced up at her and made a vague gesture in the air. She pulled across the floor and into the air before his reception desk. She dangled upside by a vine that was wrapped around her ankle, but she didn't stay suspended long before the vines moved further up her body and flipped her right side up.

"You'll have to answer me eventually, Hagaku." He told her.

Now that she was beside his desk, she could see a woman kneeling on the floor next to it. She had vines for hair and seemed to be plucking the dead leaves off of a flower. Now that she was paying attention, she noticed that there were a lot more plants in the lobby than there used to be.

"What happened to Habuko?" She asked before feeling control of her body slip away from her.

He looked at her with a smirk. "Thank you, Hagakure." Some days she really hated how smug Shinso could be. "Habuko got transferred because you kept storming upstairs. No point in a security guard that can't do her job, right?" He paused as if she could answer, which irritated her to no end. "Now, state your business."

"I came to see Monoma," She answered against her will.

He hummed at her. The girl on the floor, Ibara if she remembered correctly, made a gesture to him and pushed a water bottle off the desk for her to catch. "Select one of the following: Delivery, extortion, bribery, revenge, romance, or other."

"Delivery."

Shinso picked up the office landline, not bothering to hold it to his face before as he pressed a few buttons. "And how angry are you on a scale of one to ten?"

"Seven."

"At me or him?"

There was a delay as she contemplated the question, then the answer was out of her lips before she realized she'd come to one. "You."

He nodded and held the phone to his ear. "It's Hagakure." He paused. "Yep. Seems like it. Alright." He hung up. "You'll be able to go up soon."

She blinked in surprise as she felt her control return to her. It was always a little disorienting coming out of that. She wiggled in her prison of vines to see if it would prompt her release, huffing in irritation when it didn't. "I hate you."

"I wouldn't have to keep doing it if you'd just state your business when prompted," He told her. "One of these days he'll have his secretary headbutt you at the door."

She scoffed. "He wouldn't dare."

"You're not as useful as you think you are," He told her. "I could do your job over the phone if I wanted."

"Then why don't you?" She snapped.

He gave her a bored stare. "Because I'm not a thief." He tapped his desk two times and the vines unwrapped themselves from around her. "You can go up now."

Tooru glanced at the girl still on her knees and asked, "What's her deal?"

"She's not allowed to speak with me," He told her. "Can't risk me compromising security."

Tooru snorted as she walked toward the elevator. "What? He doesn't trust you?"

"Trust is cheap talk in this business," He told her.

The elevator opened right away and she stepped inside and hit the button for the top floor. "Trust is cheap, huh?" She wondered to herself. Her thought drifted to a warm hand pulling her away from a crime scene while an alarm blared in the background. _'Leaving you wasn't even an option.'_ Trust was definitely cheap. Maybe she was too, since the memory caused something warm to stir within her.

She stepped off the elevator and was greeted by the smile of her bosses secretary. Pony Tsunotori looked like a teacher sitting behind her organized desk with an apple beside her name plate. The horns on her head almost touched the wall with her head tilted back, but she sat up straight when Tooru stepped off the elevator. "Greetings, Hagakure."

"Hi, Tsunotori."

"Neito is expecting you," She said cheerfully.

"Yeah, thanks." Tooru said as she passed.

"And please watch yourself," Tsunotori told her. She was looking at her with a smiling unblinking expression, and her blank gaze caused a shiver to go down Tooru's spine. "I am here to protect him."

Tooru kept quiet as she entered the office.

Neito Monoma was a dramatic bastard. He sat behind his desk in a high backed chair, his back to the door when she entered. He turned around slowly to reveal his smiling face and folded hands resting on his crossed legs. "Tooru, what bring you by?" His expression was smug by default. It almost always irked her.

She reached into her backpack and pulled out her bag of loot from the jewelry story, placed it on his desk. "I need an advance on this," she said.

He frowned at her before pouring some of the bag's contents onto his desk. He sighed. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Tooru made a frustrated noise. "What do you mean? You sell it!"

"For what, pennies?" He asked her. "You failed the last assignment I gave you and now you bring me chump change and ask for applause? That's not how this works, Hagakure."

She grit her teeth in irritation. "It's not chump change. I know you can find someone to buy this. You're resourceful."

"And you're sloppy," He told her. He leaned back in his chair, pulling out a cigarette and sticking it between his lips. "What are the chances someone is already looking for this stuff, huh?" He flipped open the lighter and lit his cigarette. "I'd say it's pretty high, knowing you."

"Monoma!" She exclaimed, slamming her hands down on his desk.

He looked down at his desk before his eyes flickered back up to where he assumed her face to be. "Don't address me by name. We're not friends right now," He told her.

She would argue that they were never friends, but he did like to act friendly toward her. Honestly she wasn't sure which behavior irritated her more. "Sir," She corrected. "I'm not asking something for nothing."

"You might as well be," He said. He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke off to the side.

she tried to reign in her temper. Monoma was frustrating to deal with, but letting him get under her skin wouldn't get her what she wanted. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "An advance," She said slowly. "Whatever you think these are worth and I'll take whatever personal assignment you want me to next."

He smirked and she desperately wanted to hit him upside the head. She only got away with that when he was drunk though. "I knew that we'd come to an agreement Tooru."

"Hagakure," She corrected him. "We aren't friends right now."

He chuckled. "I don't think you're in a position to say such things."

She bit her lip and stayed quiet. He opened one of his draws and pulled out a stack of bills. He flipped through them briefly before tossing it to her. She made a surprised noise in the back of her throat. An advance was usually 20, maybe 30% of what he thought something was worth. This seemed closer to 50% and it certainly wasn't accounting for his own cut or the margin of error that came with any estimation. Even she was aware that she hadn't brought him a treasure chest.

He chuckled again at her surprise. "You're good for it," He told her. "I'll contact you about that favor."

She swallowed nervously. She'd managed to put him in a good mood again and that made her worried. Whatever her had in mind for her to do, she probably wouldn't like it. "Thanks," She said.

He nodded at her, leaning back in his chair and taking another drag from his cigarette. "And stop trying to storm into my office." He told her.

She didn't answer that, just shoved the money into her bag and walked away.

"Good evening, Hagakure." Tsunotori said as Tooru walked out. She was wearing the same expression as earlier, guileless and a little vacant. It was weird. Tooru didn't speak as she stepped into the waiting elevator.

Once she got back to the lobby, she noticed that Ibara was standing by the entrance. She bowed her head to Tooru and the invisible girl responded with a wave that went unseen. She stuck her tongue out at Shinso, who smirked at her, before she stormed out of the building.


	4. Chapter 4

"Tooru!" Tooru was awakened by her bed shaking. She mumbled grumpily before feeling her roommates body fall onto hers and hug her fiercely. "Tooru! I can't believe what you did!"

"What did I do?" Tooru whined sleepily. "And why did it deserve this reaction?" She was still groggy from last night. Her body was trapped between the blanket and Ochako's body, and her friend's excited bouncing was still shaking her.

"I went to pay for my half iof the rent and found out that covered us for the next few months!" Ochako's exclaimation was right in Tooru's ear and she playfully pushed her friend's face away.

"It's too early for you to be this excited," Tooru told her with a laugh.

"I can't help it!" Ochako said. "I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to pay rent and help my parents, then you come in like my knight in shining armor."

Tooru laughed at her friend's excitement. "I just don't like watching you struggle so much."

"Where did you even get the money?" Ochako was still holding her tight. Tooru enjoyed her friends embrace, even if she was still squealing in her ear.

"I asked for an advance at work," Tooru told her.

"You did that for me? You're the best friend in the world, Tooru!"

She laughed more. "You work too hard all the time. I wanted to give you a break."

"What would I do without you?" Ochako questioned, joiming in Tooru's laugher as she finally relaxed her hold and released the invisible girl from her embrace.

"Starve, probably," Tooru answered. She sobered as her laughter died off, pushing herself into an upright position. "Listen, you were a life saver to me first. No one wants to give an apartment to someone they can't see. No one believes in a blank face. I'd be sneaking into apartments and living in some strangers attic pretending to be a ghost if it wasn't for you."

"Don't talk like that," Ochako told her.

"It's true," she insisted. She'd already begun to start scouting out places that would be easy to break into when she'd learned that Ochako was looking for a place. They hadn't been close then, just friendly acquaintances, but Ochako couldn't afford a place on her own and Tooru had money that no one would take. They'd planned it to be temporary, but once they got along well, they realized that it didn't have to be.

Ochako gave her a sympathetic smile, placing her hand on Tooru's arm and sliding it down until she was holding her hand.

"I know that you want to say that you'll pay me back," Tooru said. "But don't. I don't want you to pay me back. Don't worry about any of this for a while. Worry about yourself and your parents and trying to save money when you can."

"Tooru, I can't rely on you forever," Ochako said. "I already rely on you way too much."

"Are we best friends, or aren't we?" Tooru demanded.

"Of course we are!"

"Then rely on me," she said. "I haven't been doing my best for a long time now and you've been doing nothing but your best for as long as I've known you. So I'm going to support you more because you're always supporting me."

Ochako smiled at her. "At least let me make you breakfast in the bed. It's the least I can do to pay you back."

"I won't turn down anything that let's me stay in bed longer," Tooru told her.

Ochako laughed as she bounced herself out of bed. "Any request?"

"Pancakes," Tooru told her. "The sweetest pancakes known to man."

"Coming right up!"

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Izuku said as he sat down at the table with his friends. Shinso looked up from his phone and Hatsume waved.

They sitting in the outdoor section of the restaurant. It was a little chilly, but that helped to assure that their relative privacy. Only a few were sitting outside with them and none of them were closer than a table away.

"Come on, Midoriya," Shinso said with an eye roll. "What kind of world is this where I arrive someplace before you do?"

"I know, I know," Izuku said with an apologetic smile. "I had a late night yesterday and I overslept."

"That's not like you," Hatsume said. "The Midoriya that I know is organized to a fault and usually early."

"Even when it's really annoying," Shinso added.

"Didn't you have a job yesterday?" Hatsume asked. "Don't tell me you've been behind on work."

"No, not behind," he said.

"I sense a story," Shinso grinned. He sat up and leaned forward attentively. "Let's order first." He got the attention of a passing waiter, waiting until they had all ordered and the man had departed before resuming the conversation. He put his elbows on the table, cradling his chin in his hand as he focused on Izuku. "Alright, what's been happening."

Izuku bit his lips. "Should we really be talking about this?"

"Half the reason we meet up is talk about this," Shinso told him.

"And here I thought it was because of friendship," Izuku deadpanned.

"This is friendship!"

"Come on, Midoriya," Hatsume added. "If you can't tell us, who can you tell?"

Izuku sighed. "Alright." His eyes darted around a moment, checking that no one was in ear shot. "The last few jobs I went on were a little... was this other..." He hesitated to say the word thief and changed tracks. "There was someone else there. This... amateur."

Shinso laughed. "How bad were they that Good Manners Midoriya is calling them an amateur?"

"You don't understand, Shin," Izuku groaned. "She touched everything, tripped alarms, didn't seem to have anything resembling a plan, it was awful."

"If she's that bad, she'll probably be caught soon," Hatsume said.

"It doesn't seem like it," he said. "She said that she'd been doing this for a while."

"What did she look like?" Shinso questioned.

"I don't know."

"That's oddly unobservant of you, Midoriya," Hatsume said. She gestured to the approaching waiter and a short silence descended as they waited for their food to be delivered. Once the waiter left, Izuku continued.

"She was invisible," he told them. "Called herself Femme Fatale."

"An invisible thief," Shinso hummed. "Sounds familiar."

"You've run into her more than once, you said?" Hatsume asked.

"Yeah. I helped her escape," he admitted.

"Why would you do that?" Shinso questioned.

Izuku couldn't help the blush that colored his face. "I just... didn't want her to get caught."

"You have a crush on your invisible rival," Shinso laughed.

"I-I do not!"

"Hey, if you want a new partner, I'm pretty sure I know where she works," Shinso told him. "I could give her your number, maybe set you up on date."

"D-don't tease me, Shin."

"I'm serious," Shinso insisted.

Midoriya doesn't need to be working with amateurs," Hatsume said.

"Having an invisible partner could come in handy," Shinso shrugged. "And if she's rough around the edges, that could mean she's more moldable and teachable."

"Do you honestly believe that, Shinso?" Hatsume questioned.

"What I believe isn't important, Shinso said, waving off her words. "This is about what Midoriya wants."

"What I want is to eat lunch," Izuku told him.

Shinso shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just remember my offer, if you need it."

* * *

"Why the fuck are we getting this call so late?" Bakugo asked, slamming the door as he got out of the car.

Momo winced at the sound, moving at a much more sedate pace as she got out the car and caught up to her partner. "They thought it was a normal robbery at first," she explained. "They found the apology note rather late."

Bakugo looked even more upset at her explanation. "What kind of fucking half assed-"

"Could you please show a little restraint?" she asked with a sigh.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "If you want me to be polite, you should just leave me in the car."

She shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "As if you'd ever stay in the car."

The small jewelry store was a mess. Several display cases had been broken open and the broken glass littered the floor. The jewelry had been carelessly collected, some pieces were on the ground near their display cases.

She flashed her badge when she arrived. "Detectives Yaoyorozu and Bakugo," she announced. "Please show us where you found the apology note."

The side of the store where the apology note was found had been found looked very different. Everything still looked neat and untouched. Only a single thing seemed to be missing and there was no visible sign of tampering on the case.

"Surveillance?" Bakugo asked while she looked around the display case.

"It was disabled somehow."

""Of course it was," Bakugo grumbled.

"It does seem like the work of our thief," Momo said. "And she was kind enough to leave her usual card."

"So what?" he questioned. "She does this side perfectly calm and makes a mess on the other side of the store?"

"The alarm was tripped. Could it have been panic?" she mused.

"No way," Bakugo said. "This is too neat. Tells me that she was already done before the alarm went off."

"Two thieves then," Momo concluded. "Our thief must have come first and someone else later."

"I don't believe in coincidences," Bakugo said.

"Nothing else fits as of now," She told him. "If she can disable cameras there's no way a simple alarm would trip her up, and I can't see our thief working with someone that would."

"This shit is a pain in my ass,"

Momo didn't want to agree with her foulmouthed partner, but she couldn't deny the sentiment.


End file.
